Joni Mitchell has followed Neil Young by removing her music from Spotify following controversy over the spread of coronavirus misinformation.
The Grammy award-winning singer said the streaming giant was allowing what she termed irresponsible people to spread lies that were “costing people their lives”.
Mitchell also shared an open letter signed by medical professionals calling on Spotify to take action against “mass-misinformation events” on its platform.
The news comes after Young removed his own catalogue from Spotify, reportedly due to its hosting of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast – which has been known to air vaccine-sceptical views.
“I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify,” Mitchell said in a statement. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives.
“I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities.”
The open letter made reference to a specific episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, in which “baseless conspiracy theories” were promoted.
“By allowing the propagation of false and societally harmful assertions, Spotify is enabling its hosted media to damage public trust in scientific research and sow doubt in the credibility of data-driven guidance offered by medical professionals,” the letter said.
Lloyd Cole has also threatened to withdraw his music.
Spotify said it aimed to balance “both safety for listeners and freedom for creators” and had removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic.
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